Driver Spotlight: Rick Ruddell
Typically, your local car club may consist of a dozen or so members meeting in a parking lot once or twice a month for some snacks and banter. Whether that is for automotive tuner, offroad, or generally any aspect of aftermarket modified vehicle groups, this seems to be the norm. Seldom does a car club stand the test of time throughout the years without lacking growth or community involvement. With the digital age of facebook being the new forums, community clubs can be found by simply clicking “like” or “follow” and posting your ride from time to time. With that, there are outliers in the real world; groups and clubs that have consistently grown year-over-year and provided new and existing members with a sense of community and excitement. Case in point San Diego Jeep Club!
San Diego Jeep Club is arguably one of the largest (local) Jeep clubs in the United States. With almost seven thousand members via their social media platforms, as well as events that often bring over one hundred Jeeps at a time, SDJC is huge. San Diego Jeep Club is home to many off-road community celebrities with the likes of members such as TrailRecon and more who often feature the club on their even larger social media accounts. Furthermore, the San Diego Jeep Club is supported by large manufacturers in the aftermarket automotive industry such as Teraflex, Warn, Baja Designs, Rugged Radios, and of course us here at 9 Aftermarket Motorsports (9AM)!
Needless to say much like any other large group, the SDJC needs structure, and for that, there has been a dedicated hierarchy over the years in which a board of directors has been appointed to allocate specific duties and positions, in charge of keeping things within the club running smoothly. Today we are going to talk with the head honcho and president of the San Diego Jeep Club: Rick Ruddell, about his experience with the Jeep community, involvement in the San Diego Jeep Club over the years, and as his term ends as president, what his future looks like with him and the San Diego Jeep Club!
So you Have had a couple jeeps, tell us about them!:
Well yeah, I definitely have! I have had Freedom (first Jeep) and Freedom 2 (current Jeep)! They are about the same honestly, with the exception that Freedom 1 was a sport model and Freedom 2 is a Rubicon model. Both are Jeep JLU running Rebel Offroad coilover kits and King coilovers, Teraflex Arms, Fox Stabilizer (on Freedom 1), PSC & Redneck Ram (Freedom 2), both jeeps on 40s with a ton of bolt-on mods including steering, bumpers, etc. This one (Freedom 2) has a beefier front axle and chromoly shafts with Reid knuckles versus the more factory-style equipment previously used on Freedom 1. Both jeeps have conquered a large handful of ‘Badge of Honor’ trails, as well as some more aggressive trails such as ‘Devils Canyon’, with ease. Heard a lot of “don't run 40s with 44s” but I have proved them wrong! Honestly, I have been really fortunate and haven't broken much, with the exception of a couple of little things, knock on wood! But overall, with the serious terrains I have conquered in these rigs, I truly have been fortunate!
You have also been highly involved in the San Diego Jeep Club, how did that begin and how did your involvement grow?:
It really was kinda crazy how it came about, I come from an off-road racing background and like a lot of off-road enthusiasts, eventually ended up getting a Jeep. In the beginning, I met a couple of amazing people to do runs with, and with that, my circle kinda kept growing from there. I eventually met and joined the SDJC (San Diego Jeep Club) and became a ‘Black Ops’ member, (SDJC black ops are involved in recovery, safety, and overall acts of helping members on trails, as well as other assigned club duties). After some time I became a member of the official SDJC board (of directors, etc.) and really got involved in the workings of the club and what goes on behind the scenes. As time passed, there was an open spot for the presidency and I was fortunate enough to be able to fill that position!
Being the president of the San Diego Jeep Club, what were your main goals to provide for the community and members?:
I came into the SDJC with a few main goals; the majority of which included building bridges with other local and national off-road clubs and coalitions, which is something I felt SDJC had been lacking or ventured away from during the recent years. With that, I also wanted to bring back some core older members, who had been such a fantastic contribution to the club early on. I feel I have been successful in doing both, and a great example of that would be our involvement in CORVA(California Off-Road Vehicle Association), Tiera Del Sol, and other clubs that work relentlessly to keep offroad trails open to the public. Clubs and groups like that hold a high priority to me because they work to allow for public use; which in turn brings new and existing members of the offroad and overland community involvement.
We can't thank you enough for your involvement with the San Diego Jeep Club, moving forward what are your plans for the future?:
Well, I obviously plan to stay involved with SDJC, I honestly really enjoy working as and with the black ops team as well as contributing where I can elsewhere in the group. I will continue to work with TDS and their goals of open public trial involvement. Basically a lot of the same just turning things down on the volume knob and being more involved with other aspects of my life outside of the club. However, honestly, I'm really debating on selling my Jeep! Truthfully, there isn't much I haven't done trail-wise without doing some seriously punishing stuff, which borderlines becoming a task to repair trail damage and broken parts. Also, as any jeep owner knows, the cost of entry, maintenance, and more, to have this lifestyle is incredibly expensive. So, I really love the idea of building out my truck for overland adventures. I love backpacking and hiking, and just being out in nature, although the jeep allows that entry, the cost is astronomical compared to getting the same experience via overlanding, backpacking, hiking, cycling, etc. Regardless, I will always be found outdoors on a trail one way or another.
Anybody you would like to give a shoutout to?:
My whole SDJC board was fantastic, we all worked together and it was the time of my life. My wife, who has always supported me. Patrick Vaugh, Bill Kassler, and Bo Reece at TDS and all of their board members are amazing as well. Taylor and Bon at Rebel Offroad do amazing work and offer fantastic products, their involvement with the Jeep community is fantastic. GenRight makes some fantastic products and has always done right by me. All the vendors for SDJC are amazing. Kurtis Schuettenhelm out in Alpine is absolutely amazing, I wouldn't take it any other place (That is if I can't do it myself). 9AM is of course always awesome for their involvement with the club over the years in one way or another.
In closing from us at 9AM:
My first experience with San Diego Jeep Club came in late 2019 when I was working as a sales rep for a large off-road business in San Diego. I was invited to an SDJC event held at San Diego’s Fiesta Island. I figured I would stop by, check out some cool rigs, introduce myself, and head out shortly after. When I arrived I felt incredibly overwhelmed; being I was not yet a member and knew nobody attending. There were some serious Jeeps there and quite frankly, I didn't know where to start. I didn't want to come off as just some pushy sales rep looking to make a buck, because that's not who I was. Being born and raised in jeeps my entire life (my grandma had an XJ, dad has a TJ, mom has two JTs, brothers have had XJ, ZJ, Kaiser, and myself half a dozen XJs and now JKU.), I wanted to be part of a community.
The first person to spark up a conversation with me was Rick. He and I hung out for hours that day, telling jokes and laughing, enjoying the event, and of course talking about Jeeps. Rick was my first impression of the San Diego Jeep Club and quite frankly there could not have been a better person to meet that day. Seeing Rick grow into his role of the presidency of the San Diego Jeep Club was a blessing and well deserved. We are excited to see what the next chapter brings for Rick Ruddell and his journey with offroad, overlanding, community growth, and more.